Isabelle Huppert retrospective at CCP

MANILA, Philippines - The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), in cooperation with the Embassy of France, presents a retrospective of films starring Isabelle Huppert, the much-awarded French actress considered among the finest of her generation, from June 19 to 26 at the Tanghalang Manuel Conde.

Five films topbilled by Huppert will be shown at the CCP, namely Sauve Qui Peut (La Vie) by Jean Luc Godard (1979), Loulou by Maurice Pialat 91980), Une Affaire de Femmes (Story of Women) by Claude Chabrol (1988), La Ceremonie (The Ceremony) by Claude Chabrol (1995) and White Material by Claire Denis (2009).

Huppert, according to allmovie.com, is “one of the most enduring and respected actresses in French cinema, is known for her versatile portrayals of characters ranging from the innocent to the sultry to the comic. Born March 16, 1955, in Paris, Huppert graduated from the Paris Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique and made her first film, Faustine et Le Bel été, when she was 16. Her career accelerated rapidly, and she soon found work with such acclaimed directors as Bertrand Blier, with whom she made Les Valseuses (1974), a film also notable for making a star out of Gérard Depardieu; Otto Preminger, for whom she appeared in Rosebud (1975); and Claude Chabrol, with whom she would make a series of films, starting with 1978’s Violette Nozière, for which she won a Best Female Performance award at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. Also in 1978, she won a British Academy Award for Best Newcomer for her role in La Dentellière (The Lacemaker).”

She won another Best Actress Award at the Cannes Festival for her role as the sexually repressed and self-destructive piano teacher in director Michael Haneke’s confrontational drama The Piano Teacher (2001).  

Huppert is regarded as an institution in her native France.

A special photo exhibit on Huppert, courtesy of Institut Francaise, will complement the film retrospective.

Screening schedule is as follows:  June 19 - Sauve Qui Peut (La Vie) at 4 p.m. and Loulou at 7 p.m. and June 26 - Une Affaire de Femmes (Story of Women) at 1 p.m., La Ceremonie (The Ceremony) at 4 p.m. and White Material at 7 p.m.

All screenings are free and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.  For information, call CCP Media Arts at 832-1125 locals 1702 and 1704.